Sincan woke up with the taste of sand in his mouth and pain in his body. He struggled to stand up and open his eyes against the harsh rays of the sun. As soon as he could kneel, he opened his eyes to see dunes sprawled across the scenery. For as far as he could see, this was all there was.
He looked around to find several figures laying on the ground around him, each of them wearing the clothes of an office clerk. He tried standing on his legs before he heard a sound. He could see a young derlin man sitting at the bottom of one of these dunes, hands folded across his knees. "Moris..?", Sincan whispered with barely any strength. The young derlin looked up at him and seemed to regain some vigour as he made his way to the decrepit scalin.
"Thank Hath you're alright, Sincan!" Moris hugged Sincan, confusing him as to what his motives were. Moris let go and Sincan spoke again. "Mor, where are we? Why are we in a desert? And where I-", Sincan shot up and looked around for something. He noticed the giant Gear not too far from him, sitting down, seemingly turned off. He pointed towards the machine and Moris spoke up. "He asked me to tell you to wait until he's done recharging. Flying us all the way over here burnt him out," Moris replied to Sincan's invisible question.
"Him? That thing's a guy?" Sincan asked. "That's what he calls himself at least," Moris explained. Sincan put his hands to his head and tried to concentrate. The constant sweating wasn't helping much with that. He paced around the area a few times before becoming lucid enough to continue. "Moris, where are we right now?" Sincan said. Moris replied once more, "Somewhere in Jonzu. Not the best place to be, huh?" Moris put on a fake smile, hoping it might reassure Sincan somewhat. Wait, Jonzu? Isn't that where the Meyers family lives? Sincan thought to himself, confused as to why this place was chosen.
He looked towards the giant Gear that sat near him and made his way over to it. He looked over the Gear and admired its design. It was at least 6 meters tall, with blue white colouring around it's rectangular frame. The Gear had wings that were tucked in at the moment and a face akin to a knight in armour. Sincan ran his hand through the Gear's surface, feeling the hot metal on his skin. Can't believe I'd be seeing this thing again. But if this is here... Sincan coughed loudly. The gear's eyes lit up as it, no, as He greeted Sincan. "Is anything the matter?", the tin man asked. His voice wasn't robotic at all. In fact, it seemed a bit too human. "What...What are you?", Sincan asked.
The Gear let out a small chuckle and began talking. "I assure you, young master, that I am only an ally.", he said. "I can see that, yeah. But weren't you with Cervo?", Sincan asked. "Young Cervo told me to take you to safety, otherwise I would have stayed and helped him fight. He really was brave for doing that." Was? Sincan swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing. He seemed to be sweating more than he should. "...Where is he?" The gear turned his head before answering. "You will find out once everyone is awake. For now, gather your strength, young master. You shall need it for what comes after." The gear turned his head back to its default position, gesturing that the conversation was over. "At least tell me your name. That's the least you could do," Sincan inquired. "Okshender" was his only response.
Sincan turned and searched around for any landmarks or sources of food and water. He came up empty handed. All he could see was sand, cactuses and a few birds that flew in a lazy rhythm. Looking at it now, he really was in a bad situation. He had no clean clothes, no way to contact anybody, was dirty and tired while stuck in a hot desert. Even making it out of here would be a chore. He looked back at the sleeping group below. Not like it'd be anything new.
Sincan slid down from the dune he was standing on and landed near Moris. The derlin had never looked so out of place before. Something's wrong with him. "Mor, are you doing alright?", Sincan asked him. Moris looked up at the scalin towering over him and steadied his breath. "Yeah, it's just a lot happened. I hope we can figure something out once everyone's awake but something tells me we're going to be like this for a while." Moris stood up and wiped off the sand that had gathered on his clothes before looking back at Sincan.
Sincan told Moris, "trust me, we will." Trust? I don't even know if they'll let me live after what I pulled. Moris noticed that Sincan was tense. "Sincan, I don't blame you too much. It was a tense situation and-" he sighed before continuing, "and we didn't make the best decisions." Moris smiled at Sincan and settled back down onto the sand.
Once they had finished talking, they noticed someone else waking up. Jake woke up slowly and stretched his arms. The sun irritated him enough that it knocked him right out of his dreams. He looked around and noticed Moris and Sincan near the base of a sand dune. "From one nightmare to another. Where are we?" Sincan replied, "I don't know, why don't you go ask the giant robot over there?" Jake immediately sobered up at that before calming himself and looking around. He saw Kos and Firil still sleeping and distanced himself. Chosh was surprisingly cuddled up near Firil. How long had he been there?
After recollecting his thoughts, he stared at Sincan and balled up his fist. "If I recall right, you're the reason we're in this mess at all, huh?" I guess we did agree we wouldn't cause any problems for each other. "Don't blame this on me. It's her fault we're even in this mess in the first place! She's the reason those crazy guys even came after us." Jake replied, "Don't you blame it on her, she doesn't deserve that! It's not her fault some people want to take advantage of her!" They were getting closer to each other, prepared to duke it out, if they needed.
Moris stepped in between and put his hands on both of them. "Guys, please. We can't fight, not at a time like this. Try and be cordial, at least until the rest of them wake up." Jake stepped away while Sincan slapped away Moris' hand. Jake growled at Sincan for that, but decided to back off. The commotion from their argument caused the rest of them to wake up. They were all just as confused as Sincan was when he first woke up.
After readjusting for a few minutes, Firil was fully up and functioning. Kos was quiet, too quiet in fact. No retorts, no sarcasm. Sincan tried testing the waters. "Actually, Kos, the dirt on your clothes doesn't make you look that much uglier." Sincan grinned while saying that. Kos replied weakly, "Yeah, I guess..." That's bad. Something's wrong with her too. Now that I think about it, something's wrong with everyone. What did I expect? and the final thought in Sincan’s head. Why do I care so much?
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Moris whispered to Jake, "What do we do about Kos, she seems out of it." Jake whispered back to him, "Try being a bit more gentle I'd say, she's just a bit shocked, Mor." The girl did in fact seem spooked, but that was nothing compared to the seething rage on the face of Firil.
She walked up to Sincan and took him by the collar so that he couldn't look away. "How long, Sincan. How long were you working for my uncle? Tell me." her voice came out as a half order, half beg for reason. "Firil, please, calm down, we nee-" Moris was cut off by Firil who was still angry. "I deserve to know!" Sincan hoped that Moris would be able to calm her down but it seemed that would not be an option. Chosh was in the corner, growling at Sincan.
Sincan couldn't take it anymore. Not knowing what happened to Cervo and now the constant badgering broke his persona. He grimaced while speaking, "Since the beginning. If you want to know what kind of guy I am, ask Jake. He'll tell you what I felt every time I acted nice or friendly towards you guys." Firil looked over to Jake for confirmation and received it. She turned back to Sincan, her anger exploding. "That's how long he had you on his payroll? Are you telling me it was another ploy to get that stupid password?!" Sincan breathed in before continuing, "No. That's just the kind of person I am. I don't care how many risks I need to take as long as I end up on top. It's how I've lived." Firil shoved him back into the sands but Sincan refused to fall. She readied a charge in her hands but before she could complete it, Okshender stood up.
Everyone's focus was on the giant Gear that was staring Firil down. "I'm sorry, young lady, but I cannot allow you to hurt my pilot." Everyone was stunned by what the Gear had just said. Sincan thought to himself, but if I'm the pilot, then... Sincan started to panic. It had to be a joke, a mistake or some kind of prank on him. There's no way a good man like him would perish while a person like Sincan would stay alive.
Sincan blurted out quickly, "What do you mean by that?" Okshender took a second before replying. "As everyone is awake, I see no further reason to hide it from any one of you. My previous pilot, Cervo Reeves, has indeed died. He perished in his fight, along with the other woman who was with him." Those words shook the group to their core. Not only was Vanessa dead, but Cervo as well.
Jake was stunned by what he heard. She died? After all this, she just died and nothing else? Jake's felt a heavy weight on his body. He couldn't support himself and fell down onto his knees. clutching his head between his arms. No, it can't be. But if it isn't, then why isn't she here, telling us to get back to work, helping us? Oh goddess, please no. Don't be so cruel to me.
No one spoke up after hearing that, Kos became even more reclusive and didn't respond to anyone. Moris and Firil grieved together. And Sincan? Sincan didn't say anything. What could he say after all that. He had just told everyone how he really felt, how he really viewed the world. He stood there, unable to process what he had just heard. Yes, He considered himself a terrible person, but was he so horrible he would be inadvertently responsible for the death of two people? No, it's her fault. If she just stayed put and gave up that damn password, we wouldn't be in this scenario. It was her selfish decision.
Firil noticed Sincan looking at her and regained her composure. She made her way over to him before opening her mouth. "Leave. Just go away and don't come back or I swear I will make sure that your dirty ways can't hurt anyone else." Sincan replied, "We're in the desert, Firil. You expect me to start walking the other way or something?" Firil shouted at him, "Yes! Just go somewhere, anywhere that isn't near us." Sincan looked over the expressions on everyone's faces. Moris was the only one who wasn't glaring at him.
"You're still working with him, aren't you? aren't you?!" She turned to face Sincan once more. Her fists were balling up, her glare getting more intense. "Yes", Sincan pronounced flatly, as if it was something casual to mention. Firil walked back to the group and gathered them into one spot.
"We're leaving him here, he's got a Gear big enough to take care of him," Firil told everyone. Okshender interjected, "Actually, young lady, my power seems to have diminished. For now, I can barely walk. It seems Soot did quite a number on my frame." Firil looked over the giant machine once more. "Why don't you just leave him here? Come with us, we need you," Firil asked. "My duty is solely to my pilot. As the late Cervo told me, that pilot was to be Sincan Tolkin." Firil had no more energy to argue with Okshender, so instead she just asked him a few questions and took counsel with the group.
"We need him, Firil. Without Okshender, we won't survive another skirmish with those mercenaries," Moris argued.
Kos at least seemed to be doing a bit better, or so it appeared. "Keep him at arm's length, I'd say. The second he tries something fishy, we knock him out. Can you handle that, Jake?" She added.
Jake was off to the side, still with his hands on his head. He answered quietly, in barely a whisper, "Does it even matter? Just do whatever."
Jake was the closest to her, no wonder he feels like this, Firil thought. "We'll need his help. Apart from that, don't think he feels a bit guilty for this situation? If he really was so shallow and greedy, he would have tried to manipulate us into believing he didn't work for Oxe Meyers." What Moris said made sense to Firil, but after dealing with her uncle's harrassment and tricks for years she had lost patience. She really didn't want to bring him along, but it was safer to have him around if they needed to fight.
Sincan was about to walk off before Moris stopped him. "Sin, please. Stay with us. I know Firil won't forgive you and the rest aren't keen on keeping you around, but we do need you." Moris tried to appeal to Sincan's humanity but Sincan wasn't having any of it. "You just want to keep me around for fights. I'm not going to fall for it," He growled at Moris.
Firil shouted at him, "You're right. And if you don't come with us, we can just report the scalin in a Gear that's wandering around. See how long it takes for you to get caught then." Sincan couldn't argue with that. If they made it to a town and filed a report, he would be screwed. Okshender hadn't recovered enough either. Sincan grinned, "And here I thought you hated me because of my lies and threats?" Firil responded, "I hate you because you lied and threatened good people, Sincan. I can't say the same about you." Sincan conceded and joined the group. Half of them had no sympathy for Sincan.
Sincan gestured for Okshender to get up, which the Gear followed. The sounds of the gears spinning in his body were non-existent. It must have been some kind of Wind Revolution as they could still feel the vibrations underground. "So which direction," Moris asked. Okshender gestured to the North East. "I flew you in from over there. I believe I passed a town, but I was flying quite high so my sensors could have been mistaken. Nevertheless, let us begin our hike, young Moris." Chosh followed along, keeping his distance from Sincan.